I can't imagine BYU going anywhere but the Big East as a football-only member.

I could still see the Big 12 being an option since the money would be there. Problem being the lack of quality western schools for #12 and that it pushes the footprint the wrong direction when the big guys are all looking south/north east.

Pac-12 seems like a stretch at this time due to the academic/religious aspect. But money is ultimately the top religion and if adding BYU could make money for the Pac-12, I think their stance could change in the future. Likely? No, but still has to be a possibility to consider.

I can't imagine BYU going anywhere but the Big East as a football-only member.

I could still see the Big 12 being an option since the money would be there. Problem being the lack of quality western schools for #12 and that it pushes the footprint the wrong direction when the big guys are all looking south/north east.

Pac-12 seems like a stretch at this time due to the academic/religious aspect. But money is ultimately the top religion and if adding BYU could make money for the Pac-12, I think their stance could change in the future. Likely? No, but still has to be a possibility to consider.

I'd disagree about the money/religion part.

BYU (much like Army, Navy and Air Force) have a different set of ideals as the other college athletic departments. BYU-TV was the religious mission of their school president. He feels he's called by the Lord to spread the LDS message through BYU TV and have BYU athletics serve as an embassador for that.

The reports of BYU re-thinking independence stem not from TV revenue, but from BCS bowl access. BYU could be a BCS Bowl At-Large if they won 9 games and were in the top 14 of the BCS. Under the new formula, they have to be in the TOP FOUR.

Is Sunday play really a big deal regarding BYU potentially going to the B12 or another major conference?

I decided to look at what's going on today (Feb. 17, 2013) for a top conference not involved in the BYU discussion. I used the SEC.

SEC teams are having 12 games today, all with out-of-conference opponents:

6 softball games3 baseball games1 men's tennis2 women's tennis

*Note - a couple of these OOC opponents are religious-affiliated schools, Niagara (hosting a baseball game) and TCU (hosting a women's tennis game); of course neither are LDS.

So intercollegiate Sunday play is active, and this is still mid-winter, and the above games are generally spring sports.

BYU was in the MWC/WAC domain a long time, so there has to be a record in terms of how BYU's former conference perceived the issue and dealt with it in terms of problems posed. Where I see it could pose the biggest problem for a conference is if Sunday was an identified day for some form of tournament or playoff activity. And some of these decisions potentially would not be left to one given conference. If BYU was in a conference such as the B12, and BYU is to be one of the conference's representatives for a game scheduled on a Sunday, I can see where this could pose a problem.

Certain conferences can enjoy playing their marquee sports on Saturdays while others are expected to be a bit more liberal for their television deals. Where the complications usually come are with those non-revenue ollies, as you may get several programs traveling together to bundle and save on costs. With BYU, however, the "no Sunday" thing becomes a royal pain to accomodate. And it isn't *just* competition, but also them traveling they kvetch over, too. They don't want to budge from 12-12, just like Chick-fil-A on a Sunday...it ain't happening.

It's a challenge being a student athlete at a major university, as the travel usually means a lot of missed courses. For BYU, one day is off the schedule completely, and it's the other schools' students who pay the price for that. That's not a problem in a bus league. That's insanely untenable in the major Division I conferences.

The sport I think that the PAC will ALWAYS use against BYU and their demands is baseball. Those programs BLEED money, even though the west coast schools excel in them, and to add to the cost because a school doesn't feel it should be doing anything on a Sunday is just going to infuriate these schools who expect their kids to excel in school while juggling their education. It's a battle of priorities. But, you know, who wants to go up against God?

BYU is going to be left out. If they go back to the MWC, that shall not help because the MWC will not be a part of it. This superdivision, if it does indeed happen, and it looks to have some momentum for it, will not be receptive to independents either. Of course, a way shall be found for Notre Dame to wiggle into it, with very accommodating criteria, since Notre Dame sits among the deciders.

I doubt if the Big12 will toss BYU a life-line for it either. The Big12 would be looking to have all their existing members included whether they hang together or divide-up once the super-conference division is enacted. The Big12 has no need to add anybody beforehand.

BYU will not compromise on some fundamentals to make them more plausible, and their bargainning chips are down to their fan base, name recognition, location, and prior successes. It may not be enough. BYU has to become an object of desirability, whereby their inclusion has a distinct, net favorabilty by at least one of the current power conferences.

BYU taking advantage of new technological innovations for broadcasting is certainly in their favor. On the other hand, competition shall increasingly do such as well.

BYU will have to continue to have to deal with the distribution rights involving away games. BYU's concerns may not be so much about finding TV audiences or finding new mechanisms for streaming, but rather the simple matter of scheduling. Doing an initiative individually, shall have certain merits, but it also shall have certain given limitations when it is not part of an assured collective (conference), at least in the traditional sense.

BYU certainly seeks to be a part of any new super-division. They also appear accepting they shall remain fb independent for the foreseeable future. Perhaps both can happen without any compromising that would lead to joining the B12.

BYU certainly seeks to be a part of any new super-division. They also appear accepting they shall remain fb independent for the foreseeable future. Perhaps both can happen without any compromising that would lead to joining the B12.

I've always thought of BYU as the "Notre Dame of the West," but not quite Notre Dame. I think they would be in the PAC if they weren't who they were (my question is whether Notre Dame would've been invited to the PAC if they were a more western school? guess we'll never know!). I think BYU must be included in the whatever new super-division and the XII (if still intact by then) would be their home unless they somehow find a way to remain independent.

I don't know how they "must" be included, they never have been. If the lower power schools ask to take the MWC & AAC up w/ them to have schools they can beat up on rather than go 3-9 most years, then BYU is a must add. Other than that If the B12 can stay as is or add 2 of Cincy, UConn, UCF. I don't see a WVU to BYU stretch as something the B12 wants.

It's weird to see something the ACC has (streaming channels) and generally seen as a consolation prize being cheered at BYU. There's a lot of optimism in that article without much forecasting what BYU expects to really see.

Given these recent decisions about new OOC power game requirements with certain major conferences, it is apparent BYU has little clout with the power 5, and BYU's broadcasting agents have not shown enough influence to have BYU accepted among the power 5 as a high valued independent. BYU AD Holmoe has put a happy face on future BYU scheduling deals, but the spin does not ring out that BYU has moved forward in being perceived as dwelling among the most elite. If anything, what happened suggests that BYU is really on the fence between where non-power 5 FBS conferences and non-ND independents dwell, and where the power 5 and Notre Dame are perched.

On the one hand, I feel BYU is more deserving given their history, and particularly as Notre Dame's inclusion is always assumed with special benefits. BYU is really not alone in exclusionary treatment; a number of schools tied to non-power 5 conferences certainly have demonstrated better fortitude than a significant number of schools having homes in power 5 conferences.

On the other hand, BYU projects an image of inflexibility and that they don't need help in moving ahead. Notre Dame, by comparison, exploits help, and ties themselves with the 'elite establishment' to get basically what they want and then some. BYU does not have that foothold and lure that Notre Dame so cleverly projects.

On surface, it looks like the Big12 could really use BYU, and BYU needs the B12 for stability and opportunities they may not receive otherwise. So far, both the B12 and BYU are keeping themselves from being a plausible match.

I can see the ACC treating their games with Notre Dame as meeting an OOC validated power game. But for other power conferences to formalize such, it gives Notre Dame even more comfort to not join a conference for full fb, and is really giving Notre Dame one more slice of the total monetary pie of which conference competes to receive.

Last edited by sec03 on Wed May 21, 2014 11:26 am, edited 3 times in total.

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